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Chapter 10 - Integrity Knight Alice.
I had thought for a long time that it was strange the same sword skills as the world of SAO would exist in the Underworld.
I went through multiple conjectures over these two years, but had yet to reach a perfect answer. An engineer at Rath might have made use of the "The Seed" package to construct the virtual world, but as far as I knew, the sword skill system hadn"t been included in The Seed. If it had, I should have been able to activate sword skills in Gun Gale Online back when I converted.
There was a possibility that the wise sage who stayed hidden in the Great Library Room, Cardinal, would know the truth, but I hesitated in asking the girl for it. Cardinal was aware that al of the Underworld"s inhabitants, including herself, were existences brought to life for an experiment by a corporation in the real world, Rath, and felt agony over her own fate. I couldn"t bear to thrust a question that implied this world was in any way fictional without the girl"s a.s.sent. In the first place, with things progressed this far, the reason behind the existence of sword skil was certainly not important. If it served its purpose and granted me combat potential, that would suffice.
The sword in my right hand was tinged with a blue gleam and I initiated the horizontal four hits skill, "Horizontal Square".
"Uo... ryaaa!"
The slash released with a somewhat uncouth shout wasn"t meant to oppose Alice, but it slashed away the minion"s two arms and tail, smoothly severing its torso horizontally in the
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end. Bracing myself to not leap off the terrace with the excess momentum, I looked on at the remains of the monster, now in pieces, as they fel and sank into the sea of clouds far below.
If those lumps didn"t vanish in midair and fell before some ascetic or anyone else taking a walk around the cathedral"s inner court, there would be a huge uproar... while thinking about such things; "...Heh."
Alice briefly muttered with a tone like that of a mentor looking onto a disciple"s skills.
Sweeping the black sword left and right to clear it, I put it back into the sheath at the left of my waist-I actually wanted to equip it on my back, but there weren"t any sword belts of the shoulder harness type in the armory-as I looked at the knight from the side.
"...What?"
"No, I was merely thinking that you use strange skills. About how it might draw some guests if you were to perform it at a theater during the midsummer festivities.
"Wel , thanks."
After making a wry smile at the grand knight, using sarcasm on every single little thing, I looked at Alice"s face from the front.
I voiced out the question that suddenly surfaced in my mind.
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"...Have you ever seen Centoria"s midsummer festival? If I had to describe it, I would have to say it was mainly a festival for the ma.s.ses, with barely any of the students born as upper cla.s.s n.o.bles in the Sword Mastery Academy going for it..."
Of course, there were exceptions, like Sortiliena-senpai, who I served as a valet for, looking forward to it each year. Those nostalgic thoughts came to me before Alice snorted.
"Please don"t a.s.sociate me with those upper cla.s.s n.o.bles who put on airs. Of course I"ve... went......"
Those scornful words gradually slowed down and eventually cut off.
The knight frowned with her lips still slightly opened and cast her eyes down as though she was searching for something.
Bring up her left hand that lost its gauntlet, she pressed her finger tips against her smooth brow. Alice shook her head countless times in that manner and slowly raised her face, then murmured in a tone that seemed somewhat vague.
"No... I heard of that festival... from some ascetic. Integrity knights are... forbidden from mingling with townspeople aside from during duty, so..."
That was only natural. The integrity knights believe themselves to have been existences summoned from the Celestial World by the highest minister, Administrator, but that
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was actually false. Administrator had taken humans of exceptional wisdom and might from the Human World to the cathedral, then built them up to be knights with their previous memories sealed away with the "Synthesis Ritual". Hence, it would be terrible if those knights visit the lesser world more than necessary and unexpectedly meet with their former family.
Alice"s number was thirty, which meant she was the "newest"
knight after Eldrie Synthesis Thirty-one who just became an integrity knight this spring. She was likely synthesized within a year from now and the girl was taken from Rulid Vil age eight years ago, so she actually had a blank span of over seven years.
How exactly did Alice spend those days in the cathedral... I didn"t know she learnt the sacred arts as a sister, or perhaps spent it "frozen" by Administrator. However, maybe she had visited Centoria"s midsummer festival before she became a knight? Could it be that the memory, that should have been sealed, revived for an instant due to the earlier conversation-?
In that case, if I were to continue asking about the midsummer festival now, the "piety module" sealing Alice"s memories could be removed like what happened when I fought against Eldrie, couldn"t it?
Having thought of that, I started to open my mouth once again.
However, I clenched my teeth tight after taking in a breath.
Cardinal had said it. That to turn Knight Alice to Alice Schuberg, Eugeo"s childhood friend, taking the piety module out
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wouldn"t be enough. That the "most important memory fragment" stolen from Alice by the highest minister was definitely necessary. Hence, if Alice"s module were to be removed now, the girl should lose her consciousness in that instant and become immobile. I would rather avoid that in the present circ.u.mstances where we didn"t know when our next enemy would appear.
First and foremost, Alice showed no sign of distress at all when she saw Eugeo whom she had got on well with for several years back in Rulid. In other words, that was how strong the seal on Alice"s memories was. The chance of removing the module with a topic like the midsummer festival was slim and on the other hand, it might even cause her wariness towards me to increase.
Alice suspiciously gazed at my face as I went through those thoughts in silence, but soon scowled as though she had noticed something again.
"The minions" blood bring about il ness. Clean it off properly."
"Nn? Aah..."
I noticed for the first time that several drops of the blood spurted out from the demon had showered onto my left cheek Alice pointed it out. In the moment I tried to wipe the pungent fluid away with my shirt"s sleeve, a stinging reprimand came flying.
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"Hey!"
It must have been years since someone got angry at me in that manner... Alice glared at me, who was dumbfounded, with a truly frustrated expression.
"Aah, that"s enough, just why are men so... Do you not carry around even a single handkerchief?"
I fumbled around my trousers" pockets, but the right was empty and the left had something that wasn"t a handkerchief stuffed in it. I answered softly with my head lowered.
"I-I don"t..."
"...Alright, fine, use this."
Alice pulled out a handkerchief from her long skirt that was just as pure white, then held it out to me with a look that showed abhorrence coming from the depths of her heart.
The thought of lifting up the grand knight"s skirt and rubbing my cheek on it, if she was going to treat me like a kid in primary school, flashed through my mind, but I stopped as it would simply end in my death.
Borrowing the handkerchief with intricate hems that didn"t have a single stain on it with thanks, when I wiped my cheek with it abashedly, the minion"s blood was practically absorbed into it, cleaning it up completely, as though some art to clean up stains had been cast on it.
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Chapter 10 - Integrity Knight Alice.